Variety

On a recent trip to Smith head office in Osaka, I was reminded how different the weather can be in various parts of the country, even though the distance is not so great.

Of course, where we are from in Canada, temperatures vary greatly from city to city, and also from day to day. It is not unusual for there to be a sudden change of up to twenty degrees overnight. However, we have been living in Yokohama for eleven years now, and tend to forget that is possible, as daily temperatures and weather patterns do not vary so much here.

The day we arrived in Osaka, it was balmy and the sky was blue and cloudless. Fantastic! It was a welcome change from the cold, grey weather in Yokohama that day. The next day in Osaka brought a strange mix of cold air, snow and sunshine. One moment it was snowing, and a few minutes later the sun came out and it was like a spring day. Then the snow started again, followed again by sunshine. I had to laugh that this surprised me, as it happens so often in Canada. Almost never in Azamino, though.

Japan enjoys such a variety of local differences, it never gets tiresome traveling. Different weather, geography, local foods, local customs (like standing on the right side of the escalator in Osaka, versus the left in Tokyo) all combine to make each day interesting here, no matter where you are. And yet, unlike in Canada, you only need to take a short train ride to enjoy these little differences!